The advantages of hunting deer from an elevated position include a greater, unobstructed field of vision and increased safety resulting from being above the path of fire of hunters on the ground. Consequently, devices of various descriptions have been invented to provide these advantages to hunters. These devices include stands built in trees, chair lifts, and tree slings.
The following patents, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,568,797; 3,731,762; 3,957,135; 4,347,913; 4,347,914; and 4,205,733 have taught the use of seats which are elevated by means of a cable attached to an overhead bough of a tree. In addition to being manually manipulated, they also have the disadvantage of being free swinging. Thus a rifle recoil can cause the seat to swing sharply possibly jeopardizing the safety of the hunter.
Recent patents, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,552,248 and 4,623,036 have taught the use of bicycle-like foot pedals and an electric motor, respectively, for activating a winch mechanism. Both of these patents are well-suited for workmen but inappropriate for hunters because of the aforementioned stability problem.
The most germane prior art to the present invention are three recent patents that disclose platform-like devices that do not have the instability problem of the chair lift devices. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,593,789 discloses a tree climbing platform that can be raised or lowered by a winch using foot-operated pedals and provides tree-trunk engaging means and a platform adapted to be raised or lowered over a tree trunk. U.S. Pat. No. 4,602,698 discloses a hunting chair device that provides brackets to brace the chair against a tree, foot pedals attached to a reel for elevating the chair, and a foot rest to provide a stable elevated platform. Upper and lower spacers are attached to the device to maintain the chair in a stable relationship to the tree. U.S. Pat. No. 4,625,831 discloses a ladder-like hunting stand mounted on the rack of an all-terrain vehicle. The platform has a V-shaped edge for resting against a tree trunk. In contrast to the other patented devices which rely on winch mechanisms, this patent discloses a ladder means that is easily extended or collapsed. The prior art does not disclose a wheeled vehicle with a pivoted chassis wherein the rear part of the chassis pivots to a vertical position to act as a counter weight for the horizontal platform portion of the chassis when the vehicle is winched up a tree.